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Press Release

Raleigh Man Arrested for Attempting to Set Fire to Raleigh Police Department Vehicle

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Raleigh man was arrested yesterday for attempting to set fire to a marked police vehicle in Raleigh after a demonstration over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced.

Jabari Devon Davis, of Raleigh, North Carolina, was arrested by special agents of the ATF and is charged by complaint with one count of attempting to damage or destroy by fire a vehicle owned or possessed by an institution receiving federal financial assistance.  Davis will make his initial appearance June 5, 2020, by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert T. Numbers, II.

According to the complaint, On May 31, 2020, at approximately 12:30a.m., a fire was discovered coming from the fuel filler area of a marked Raleigh Police Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) at the Raleigh Police Southeast District Station located at 2800 Rock Quarry Road, Raleigh, North Carolina.  Charring was also located in the landscaping behind the police vehicle. Video surveillance from the Southeast District Station was reviewed and showed a dark colored vehicle turn right on to New Birch Road.  The vehicle proceeds on New Birch Road and stops behind the police vehicle that was damaged.  The suspect vehicle was stopped for a short period of time and then proceeded east on New Birch Road.  The vehicle proceeds to a roundabout and then heads back west on New Birch Road. The video surveillance then picks the vehicle back up turning left on Olde Birch Road.  Within sixty seconds of the vehicle stopping on New Birch Road, a fire is observed coming from between two police vehicles.

A fingerprint had been lifted off of the Hennessey bottle recovered at the scene. A latent print examiner determined the print to be the left ring finger of Davis. Davis was interviewed at his residence where he admitted to being the subject who intentionally set the police vehicle at the Southeast District on fire. Davis stated that he is “pissed off with everything going on.”

The count charged in the criminal complaint carry a statutory mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years, a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $250,000.  

Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Credited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, and the Raleigh Police Department (RPD) with the investigation leading to today’s arrest. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel W. Smith  of the of the U.S. Attorney's Office’s Criminal Division.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

Updated June 5, 2020

Topic
Violent Crime